“Did Henry say what happened?”
“Maggie got sick and they called the ambulance and to tell Cam.”
“Fuck,” Cam swore.
Whitney glanced at him as her stomach roiled. This was not good.
“Can I see your phone?” she asked Didi.
She was praying that Didi had imagined the call, she could admit. It was 4 a.m. Usually Didi would have been up for a few hours by now and downstairs watching TV. Maybe Didi was sleep walking? Or just confused since it was the middle of the night. Why would Henry, of all the McCaffreys, call Didi of all the people?
“Okay.” Didi dug her phone out of her purse.
There was, indeed, a recent call from a number that was labeled HENRY. About thirty minutes ago.
She decided not to tell Cam about the time since the call. Clearly Didi had taken that time to get ready to go before coming in to tell Cam what was going on.
“My phone is down in the kitchen,” Cam said, now with his jeans on and the pillow back on the bed.
Whitney assumed hers was as well. She’d laid it and her keys and purse down when they’d first gotten home. Typically she brought it upstairs with her when she came to bed but, nothing about coming to bed last night had been typical.
She watched Cam stomp toward the door and listened to his steps on the staircase.
“We need to go,” Didi said again, taking her phone back. “Henry is really scared. He wanted to know when I’d be there.”
Whitney looked at her grandmother. “We can’t go. Cam will go and let us know what’s happening.”
The last thing the family needed was extra people around to take care of. And that’s what Cam would do. He’d try to take care of everyone. It was better if she and Didi stayed behind.
But… Whitney blew out a breath. She had a huge meeting today. Hot Cakes’ biggest account was going to be the first to see the plans for the new bars. It was a perk of being loyal and long-term customers. They were flattered and excited, but the CEO, Gordon Perkins, a long-time friend of her father’s, was skeptical. The new ownership, particularly with no one with the last name of Lancaster and no one over the age of thirty-five was making him nervous.
The Perkins family owned the largest chain of convenience stores in the Midwest. They’d been in business with the Lancasters, carrying Hot Cakes products, since Gordon had taken over from his father about the time Whitney’s father, Eric, had taken over Hot Cakes from his father.
She had to convince Gordon that everything would be fine. That new didn’t mean bad, that change didn’t mean that quality would go down or prices would go up or that he wouldn’t be able to enjoy a good relationship with the new owners. He was already frustrated that there were four men to contend with instead of one. And that none of the four particularly liked to golf.
Grant and Aiden had decided she should lead the meeting since Gordon knew her. They would be there too, to meet him and his team and to reassure them that everything was going to be even better going forward. But she had to be there. She was a Lancaster. Gordon would not be as friendly with anyone else.
She supposed that meant Didi would be coming with her to the meeting.
On one hand, that could be amazing. Didi was, after all, the founder of Hot Cakes. The original Lancaster behind it all.
As long as she was having a good day and didn’t start telling Gordon about cat yoga or Magnum, P.I. or her kicking ass at Warriors of Easton or anything else that would make Gordon question the validity of the other things she might say about how well the company was doing.
“Didi!” Cam called up the stairs. “Come on!”
Didi turned and started out of the room.
“Wait!” Whitney went to follow her, but tripped on the bottom of the sheet. She yanked on it, gathering it up above her feet, wadding it in her hands and ran after Didi.
Cam was standing at the bottom of the staircase texting and Didi was a third of the way down.
“She can’t go with you.”
He looked up from his phone. “Why not?”
“To the hospital? Where your family is with your mother?” Whitney shook her head. “No, she can stay with me.”
“Do you want to come later?” Cam asked Didi as she got to the bottom. “You’re all dressed up like you were coming now.”
“Oh, I’m coming now. I told Henry I’d be right there.” She held up her purse. “I have books.”
Whitney couldn’t help but smile at that. She would guess Alice in Wonderland was in there. And that was a great choice. It would maybe help keep Henry’s mind off of what was going on with his mom. It would also be comforting to Didi.
Cam nodded at Didi as if that made perfect sense. He looked up at Whitney. “She can come with me now since she’s ready. I need to get right over there.”
Whitney wasn’t going to argue with him. He was right that he needed to get there as soon as possible and Didi was already crossing the foyer to the front door. “Okay. Is… what’s going on?”
“They think a heart attack.” His voice was thick. “They’re doing tests now. I talked to Aiden. He and Zoe are there.”
“Oh, good.” That did make her feel better. Aiden was a natural leader. He’d take charge and make sure they got the answers they needed.
Except… this was his mother too. Not biologically, but he was a part of the McCaffery family. He wasn’t just there supporting his fiancé and best friend. He was probably scared to death too.
“So…” Cam glanced at the front door.
“Go,” she said quickly. “Of course. Go. Let me know what’s going on when you can. And if you need me to come get Didi.”
“I—” He frowned. Then nodded. “Okay.”
She
